Zbigniew ‘Zyb’ Baster is the Microscopy Facility Manager in the Laboratory of Cell and Tissue Engineering at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. He has broad experience in cell and molecular biology, image processing, and analysis, which he employs to provide comprehensive, top-notch microscopy services, contributing to advancements in cell biology, biophysics, and biomedical engineering. He enjoys learning about his colleagues' research and expanding his technical and application expertise in instrumental analysis, especially in Microscopy. He approaches his work meticulously, striving for a thorough understanding of the nature of the results. Zyb is always enthusiastic to provide assistance and consultations related to life science studies and microscopy experiments, including study design, training, support during experiments, data analysis, and interpretation of the results.

Outside of work, Zyb enjoys tinkering with, among other things, house improvement projects, cars, and motorcycles, and has a keen interest in American football.

That looks impossible — I’m in.

He holds a Bachelor's in Engineering and a Master's in Engineering degrees in Medical Physics from AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland, and a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Jagiellonian University (JU) in Krakow, Poland.

Zyb completed his PhD in Physics under the supervision of Prof. Zenon Rajfur (JU) and Prof. Cai Huang (University of Kentucky, USA), focusing on the effects of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness on talin1 organization in cells and the interactions between talins and integrin β1 in cancer invasion and progression. During his PhD studies, Zyb also served as a microscopes caretaker and instructor in the JU Mechanobiology lab, gaining expertise in advanced microscopy techniques. He received postdoctoral training in Dr. Clare Waterman's lab at the National Institutes of Health in the United States, where he investigated how ECM stiffness influences plasma membrane-actin cortex tethering and organization. He also attended multiple microscopy workshops, including Quantitative Imaging: From Acquisition to Analysis at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

His contributions to the scientific community have been recognized with several awards, including the Award for high-quality PhD research, the Polish National Science Center grants for Young Scientists, the BioImaging North America (BINA) Professional Development Award, and the Jerzy Konorski Award 2023 Honorable Mention.